As the Internet continues to grow in popularity (e.g., users may perform online banking, surf for information on a variety of subjects, play games, and so on), so to have the attacks by malicious parties on users of the Internet. One of these attacks is known as a “phishing” attack, in which, malicious parties attempt to trick users into revealing personally identifiable information which may then be used to steal the users' identity, such as to fraudulently obtain credit cards in the users' name.
A malicious party, for example, may configure a counterfeit website to mimic a legitimate website, with which, the users have previously interacted, such as a banking website. For instance, the counterfeit website may include logos, text and other images taken from the legitimate website such that the counterfeit website has the same “look and feel” as the legitimate website. The counterfeit website may then prompt the user to enter personally identifiable information, such as user identification (e.g., an alias) and password to login to the website. The counterfeit website may also prompt the user, after the appearance of the login, to supply additional personally identifiable information, such as a home address, social security number, birthday, mother's maiden name, and so on. Because the user is presented with a legitimate-looking website, the user may experience an increased sense of comfort and therefore provide this information, which may then be used to steal the identity of the user. The stolen identity may then cause significant financial harm to the user as well as legitimate websites, which may experience a decrease in traffic as these attacks continue.